Laundry apparatus



' Jan. 19, 1960 E. J. FREY 2,921,458

LAUNDRY APPARATUS 'Filed Aug. so, 1954 ML Ir- I H/'s Attorney Jan. 19, 1960 E. J. FREY LAUNDRY APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 50, 1954 rlllillllnllllllllllllll IIHIIIIIIII Il. .Illllllllll :Il vlllllllnlllnllll Fig. 4

INVENTOR. Edward J. Fre

His Attorney Jan. 19, 1960 E. J. FREY LAUNDRY APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 50, 1954 m. Tv, N8 mn J m m E H/'s Attorney United States Patent Oflice 2,921,458 Patented. Jan. 19, 1960 LAUNDRY APPARATUS Edward J. Frey, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application August 30, 1954, Serial No. 452,773

2 Claims. (Cl. 68-12) This invention relates to a domestic, appliance and more particularly to clothes washers.

It is an object of my invention to provide a clothes Washer with an improved low cost cabinet arranged so that the parts are easily fabricated and assembled.

It is another object of my invention to provide a clothes washer with an outer ornamental and structural cabinet suitable for porcelain coatings and an inner tank connected to and supported by the outer walls in such a way that the porcelain coating of the outer cabinet will not be damaged by such a connection.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved spring stop for the lid which will not damage the porcelain coating of the lid or cabinet.

It is another object of my invention to provide an improved water filling arrangement for the tub which can be placed under a low top.

It is another object of my invention to provide a centrifuging clothes washer with an improved control arrangement in which the control is located within the the cabinet and manipulated from the cabinet top and employs the same control mechanism to stop the washer upon excess gyration during centrifuging.

These and other objects are attained in the form shown by providing a box-shaped ornamental and structural outer cabinet having a top provided with a raised rear portion. Within this cabinet is an inner tank sealed by a gasket to the top wall and provided with brackets at the top supported by the top gussets and feet or legs extending to the base to provide a bottom support. The bottom of the tank is also connected to the rear wall.

The control mechanism is mounted in the bottom portion of the cabinet beneath the tank. It is connected by a flexible detachable connection with a vertical rod extending to the top of the cabinet. At the top of the cabinet this rod is provided with a simple universal type connection with a dial which is rotatably mounted upon the sloping rear portion of the top. The top of the rod is provided with a push-pull knob. The intermediate portion ofthe rod is provided with a bell crank lever extending through a sealed opening in the wall of the tank which is engaged by thetub within the tank upon excessive gyrations to actuate the push-pull rod to move the control mechanism to the off position to stop the machine.

The water fill is discharged from a pipe across an air gap into a rubber spout having means for restricting the escape of frothed soap from the tub chamber.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a clothes washer embodying one form of my invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the lines 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the lines 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the lines 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the top and control mechanism taken substantially along the lines 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the pushpull control rod and the bell crank lever taken substantially along the lines 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the connection of the push-pull rod with the washer control taken substantially along the lines 7-7 of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View taken substantially along the lines 8 8 of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view of the dial and its universal connection taken substantially along the lines 9 9 of Figure 5;

Figure l0 is a top sectional view of the water filling nozzle;

Figure 11 is a side view of the water filling nozzle;

Figure 12 is a front view of the mouth of the water filling nozzle; and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary sectional View of the lid, its hinge and spring stop.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figures l and 2 there is shown a box-shaped outer ornamental and structural cabinet having side walls 20 and 22 and a front wall 24, each provided with an inturned flange 26 at the bottom. These side and front walls are also provided with an inturned flange 28 extending around their upper edges. The rear ends of the side walls 20 and 22 are provided with inturned vertical flanges 30 and 32 which are connected by the rear wall 34. The cabinet is also provided with an ornamental porcelain coated top wall' 36 having inclined rear corner portions 38 and 40 adjacent the water control dial 42 and its control knob 44 and the timer control dial 46 and its knob 48. The top 36 may also be provided with an opening 49 and a suitable porcelain coated lid 37. The lid 37 is pivotally connected by two hinges 237 to the edge of the top opening 49, as shown in Figures l and 13. The lid 37 is provided with two bent, hook-shaped spring stops 239 each of which is clamped to the adjacent edge of the lid 37 by one Wing of one of the hinges 237. These hook-shaped spring stops 239 each extend through an aperture 248 in the flange portion of the opening 49, as shown in Figure 13. When the lid 37 is lifted and folded back, as shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 13, the hooked lower end portions o f the spring stops 239 engage the front edge of the aperture 248 as indicated in Figure 13 to resiliently limit the opening movement of the lid 37 without impos.- ing such bending stresses in either the lid or top 36 as might crack or chip their porcelain coating. The top wall 36 is also provided With inturned flanges 50 which are adapted to meet and rest upon or over the inturned flanges 28 of the side and front walls. The side and front walls 20 to 24 at the top four corners are provided with four gussets 52 and likewise the bottom flange 26 is provided with gussets 54 in the opposite corners. Two of the opposite corners at the bottom flange 26 are connected by a diagonal brace 56 which supports the bottom portion 58 of a friction snubber.

Within the box-shaped outer ornamental cabinet is a generally cylindrical inner tank 60 provided with two front legs 62 extending down to and supported by the front lower gussets 54. The rear lower portion of the tank 60 is fastened directly to an inwardly projected portion 64l of the rear wall 34 by the screws 66 as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The upper portion of the cylindrical tank 60 is provided with four angle brackets 68 which rest upon and are fastened to the four upper gussets 52 by the screws or bolts 70 as shown in Figure 2. The.

two front gussets 52 are provided with Z-shaped brackets 72 which receive and hold the front intumed flange of the top wall 36. The rear portion of the top wall 36 may be held by the angle brackets 74 fastened to the inturned box ilange of either the rear wall 34 or the inturned rear portions of the side walls 20 and 22 as shown in Figure 5. These brackets 74 extend over the rear inturned ange of the top wall 36. The top rim of the tank is provided with a rubber gasket 76 making sealing engagement and supporting the top wall 36. The brackets 72 and 74 hold the top wall 36 down in sealing engagement with the gasket 76.

Within the tank 60 there is provided a transverse bulkhead 78 having its edge portions 80 welded and sealed to an inwardly directed offset 82 extending around the bottom of the tank 60. The bulkhead 78 has a raised central portion 84 provided with a resilient conically shaped mounting 86. This conically shaped mounting 86 resiliently supports the centrifuging tub 88 and its actuating mechanism housed within the rotatable housing 94. The tub 88 is connected to the actuating mechanism by a plurality of shafts extending downwardly through the tubular housing 90 and connected to an actuating mechanism enclosed within the rotatable housing 92. The rotatable housing 92 is provided with an integral external pulley 94 connected by a drive belt 96 to a pulley xed to the lower end of an electric motor 98. The motor 98 is supported by a bracket 121 fastened to the housing 90. A yoke having arms 123 and 125 surrounds the rotatable housing 92 and carriesa snubber plate 127 for operating with the snubber portion 58 mounted upon the cross member 56. The motor 98 also drives the pump 129 having its inlet connected by the hose 131 to the outlet 133 provided in the bottom portion of the bulkhead 78. The pump 129 also has its outlet connected to the hose 135 extending out through an aperture 137 in the transverse member 139 beneath the rear wall 34.

The tub is supplied with water through a hot water pipe 140 and a cold water pipe 141 connecting to a mixing Valve 143 discharging througha pipe 145 across a gap into the nozzle 147 which in turn discharges into the interior of the centrifuging tub 88. This mixing valve 143 may be controlled by the knob 44 so as to provide an initial lill of either hot or mixed hot and cold water.

The nozzle 147 may be made of natural or synthetic rubber, or plasic, and includes a spout portion 250 having a mouth 251 cut at an angle. The spout portion 250 is provided with an integral enlarged supporting flange 252 provided with a circumferential groove which receives and grips the edges of the aperture in the tank 60, as shown in Figures 2 and 10. This integral supporting flange 252 is set at an angle to the spout so that the nozzle is skewed relative to the cylindrical wall of the tank 60, as shown in Figure 2. The mouth 251 of the spout 250 is similarly skewed so as to be substantially parallel to the support 252 and the rim of the opening 49. The ange 252 of the nozzle 147 has an integral outwardly extending extension 253 in the form of a square, cup-shaped drip collector which is located directly beneath the upper end of the supply pipe 145. This drip collector 253 communicates with an integral chamber 254 located beneath the spout 250 and adjoining the integral supporting flange 252 on its inner face. The integral chamber254 connects directly to the drip collector 253. y.The bottoms of the-drip collector 253 and the `chamber 254 are in alignment and slope downwardly toward the inner end of `the chamber 254. `Thetub 88 rotates inthe direction as shown by the arrow inFigure 2. f The chamber 254 is provided with an outlet aperture 255` on the trailing side of,this chamber 254 relative' to therotation of the tub 88. This arrangement allows any drip from the endofthe pipe 145 to drop intothe'eol 4 lector 253 and flow into, the chamber 254 and be discharged into the interior of the tank 60.

Underwriters require that washers, particularly of the automatic type, go through a test in which excessive amounts of soap are placed in the tub during a washing period and means must be provided for preventing the soap from being drawn back into the pipe when a slight vacuum is pulled thereon. To prevent this occurrence, I provide a zig-zag thin strip of metal 256 extending across the mouth 251 of, but Within the nozzle 147 as shown in Figures 10 and 12. This zig-zag strip of metal has suticient capillary drag upon soap bubbles owing in the reverse direction through the nozzle that it retards the llow of soap bubbles and froth from the mouth 251 into the spout 250. This retardation is sufcient to prevent the soap from reaching the pipe 145 before the overload stop will operate to stop the washing machine and shutoff the pipe 14S.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 5 to 7 inclusive the timer control 151 is mounted upon the angle bracket 153 fastened by the screws 155 to the rear vertical ange 32 of the side wall 22. The timer is provided with a control connection 157 which rotates to start the timer and continues to rotate as the timer operates through its cycle. The control connection 157 also moves upwardly to open all of the circuits and moves downwardly to close the circuit to the timer 151 subject to the proper rotational position for the timer cycle.

This control connection 157 includes a hook-shaped upper end 159 which connects to a complementary hookshaped lower end portion upon the control rod 161. The two ends are held in hooked relation by the surrounding tightly wound coil spring 220. The control rod 161 extends upwardly through the top 36 as well as through the dial 46 and is provided with a threaded end portion to which is connected the knob 48. The dial 46 is provided with a reduced lower cylindrical portion 163 which is rotatably mounted within an aperture in the top wall 36 and has a shoulder above which rests upon the edges of the aperture. The dial 46 is provided with a ared skirt containing the indications of the various portions of the washing cycle. The dial 46 is also provided with a spherical upper portion 165 which fits into the hollow portion of the lknob 48 as shown in Figure S. The shaft 161 is provided with a connector 167 having diametrically opposite projections 168 engaging notches in the restricted web portion of the cavity within the dial 46 to provide a simple form of universal joint so that the dial 46 may rotate upon an inclined axis while the shaft 161 both rotates and is free to reciprocate upon a vertical axis. The bottom of the dial 46 is provided with a retaining plate 169 extending close to the lower surface of the top 36 for providing a means for holding the dial 46 in the aperture provided for it in the top. The connector member 167 causes the knob 48 to rotate the dial 46 with the shaft 161 but also permits the knob 48 and the shaft 161 to move up and down to pull the connector 157 up or to push it down. The top 36 is preferably provided with an indicator to cooperate with the indications provided on the dial 46.

The resilient mounting 86 and the snubber 58-127 control the gyrations of the tub 88 and driving mechanism 98, 96, 92 even though there is some unbalance within the tub 88. The tank is provided with an annular offset 171 to accommodate gyrations of a predetermined maximum amplitude. If the clothes are placed so that the tub 88 is considerably out of balance .a throw out mechanismis 'providedI to stop themachine. `When the maximum permitted amplitude is exceededfthe/tubwill engage the throw outy bell crank 173 mounted-upon the pivot pin 175 held by a bracket 177 fixed to the walls of ther'tank 60 around an opening 179 therein. This'opening is sealed bya-'exible-rubber :diaphragm 181 lwhich tightly `surrounds thearm of the bell crank lever as shown in Figure 6. Theedges of this'- diaphragm 181 arev clampedand sealed to the adjacent wall of the tank 60 by the mounting portion of the bracket 177 fastened to the wall of the tank by the screws 183. The bell crank 173 has a rubber sleeve 185 provided upon its downwardly extending arm which is adapted to be engaged by the side walls of the tub under excessive gyrations. The position of the side wall of the tub when it contacts the rubber sleeve 185 is shown in dot and dash lines in Figure 6 designated by the reference character 88.

The bell crank 173 also has a horizontal arm 187 which may be forked. This forked end of the horizontal arm 187 is adapted to engage a ange 189 of a slider member 191 slidably mounted upon the shaft 161 in any one of the notches. A spring 197 coiled about the shaft 161 normally holds this slider member 191 against the top of the clamping member 193 provided with a clamping screw 195. The upper end of this spring is held in place by a Tinnerman type fastener 199 which engages the shaft 161 at any one of the notches shown provided thereon.

. The connection of the shaft 161 to the connector 157 is maintained by a coil spring 220 which is coiled about the junction of the shafts so as to maintain the hooked end portions in connection and yet permits limited bending and misalignment at this point. This provided a simple durable universal type of connection which is especially suited for this particular application. Thus in this arrangement the control mechanism is located between the tank 60 and the outer walls and yet is provided with an actuating arrangement from the tub 88 through the wall to operate the actuating shaft 161.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A laundry apparatus including a cabinet having side and top walls, said top wall having a sloping portion,

a control device within said cabinet having a generally vertical operating shaft, an indicating device rotatably mounted upon said sloping portion on an axis of rotation perpendicular to said sloping portion, said indicating device including an aperture perpendicular to said sloping portion provided with a notch parallel to its axis, said shaft extending into said aperture and having an axially extending blade projecting into said notch.

2. A laundry apparatus including a cabinet having side and top walls, said top wall having a sloping portion, a control device within said cabinet having a generally vertical operating shaft, an indicating device rotatably mounted upon said sloping portion on an axis of rotation perpendicular to said sloping portion, said indicating device including an aperture perpendicular to said sloping portion provided with a notch parallel to its axis, said shaft extending into said aperture and having an axially extending blade projecting into said notch, said shaft being rotatable and axially movable, and a knob above said indicating device fastened to and movable with said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,161,604 Watts June 6, 1939 2,176,049 Floraday Oct. 17, 1939 2,311,924 Bassett Feb. 23, 1943 2,512,847 Conterman June 27, 1950 2,624,464 Morrison Jan. 6, 1953 2,646,673 McCarty July 28, 1953 2,723,737 Hammell et al Nov. 15, 1955 2,738,072 Knight Mar. 13, 1956 2,761,303 Shelton Sept. 4, 1956 

